Commutator.



H. M. SCHEIBE.

COMMUTATOR.

APPLICATIQN FILED oEc.31.19|3.

1,241,559. Patented Oct. 2,1917.

WITNESSES: ,f mv NTO?.v

BY K ATORNEYU UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

HAROLD E. BGHEIBE, 0F SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB. T0 WESTLNGHOUSE ELECTBIG AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

COMMITTATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 2, 191 '7.

Application led December 31, 1918. Serial No. 809,650.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, Hanqnn M. Scanlan, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Somerville, in the count of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, ave invented a new and useful Improvement in Commutators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates lto commutators for dynamolectric machines, and it has particular reference to commutatore ofthe radial type.

My invention has for one of its ob]ects to provide a device of the above indicated character which is sim le and durable 1n construction and effectlve in operation. A second object of my invention is to provide a simple method of constructing a commutator pf the radial type which possesses important advantages over methods heretofore in use.

In the construction of commutators,1t has been customa to shape the individual bars of copper be ore assemblingV and then. to fasten them together by suitable mechanical means.

I propose to prepare a disk of copper and then cover the same with a suitablethickness of insulating material. The mass 1s shaped, as desired, by machine tools and the .copper disk is cut i'nto radial segments while embedded in the insulating material. The in sulating material serves as the supporting structure or frame of the commutator.

It may bei derable to reinforce the body of insulatin material and thls may be accomplished y an embedded metal plate for example, of steel, which is separated rom the commutator segments by a suitable thickness of insulating materia The details of my invention will be described in connection with the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is an end view, partially in section and partially in elevation, of a commutator constructed, in. ac cordance with my invention. F' 2' 1s a view in section on line II-II o Fig. 1. .Fi 3 is a' fragmentary view of a copper dis. Fig. 4 is a view in section of a portion of a commutator in which a reinforcing plate is employed.

Referring particularly to Fi s. 1 and 2, a commutator 1 comprises a circ r base plate 2 of a suitable metal and provided with a ciry cular opening 3 for the shaft of a dynamo. electric machine (not shown). A ring, 4, of

insulating material is attached to'the plate their respective inner and outer ends, with` reduced portions'lO and 11 which lie between cylindrical portions of insulat' substantially ing materia that connect the ilange's`6 and 7 to the body portion 8. The inner ends of the bars 9 are covered by the llange 6. The reduced outer portions 11 of the bars 9 are also' bridged over by the flange 7 and their extremities are Hush with the outer periphery of the commutator and furnish a convenient` means for attachingl the terminals of armature coils.

One method of constructing the commutator will now be described in detail. The insulating material may be that known to the tr de as micarta which is composed of layers of fabric, such as aper, cloth or Iibrous material, and a li ui adhesive material which is preferably t at known as bake' lite. It is also 'feasible to use molded material provided its composition and qualities are `such as to adapt it for this particular r use. If pa er be used, it is rst coated on one side with liquid binding material and 'then dried, after which it is cut into sheets of any desiredsize. y

In the contruetion of the commutator, the prepared sheets of fabric are cut larger than the finished commutator. The sheetsare placed' with the untreated side next to the treated side of the adjacent sheet until a plate is built upto the required thickness to form the body portion 8 ofthe commutator. A circular copper plate 12, Fig. 3, which has been provided with two concentric sets of holes 13 and 14, is provided with a concentric central opening 15 which intersects the inner holes 13. The 'copper` plate 12 is then placed upon ther builtup sheets of and the disk 12.

paper, and the holes 13 and 14 and the.opening 15 are filled with disks of treated paper. Sheets of paper are then placed on the copper plate until the number is sufiicient `to produce the required thickness. If a reinforcing plate 1 such as is shown in Fig. 4, be employed, it will be added at such a point in the building-up recess that it is properly located in the nished product. The whole mass is then laced in a hydraw lic press and heated whi e under a high degree of pressure. The resulting pro uct is a hard, compact, cylindrical mass of insoluble and infusihleJ insulating material in which the copper plateis firmly embedded. The insulating material thus formed has reat ansile strength and can be turned, ored nd drilled in the same manner as wood.

If molded insulating material is employed, the proce will be correspondingly modified, but similar results may be secured by utilizing a suitable mold.

The disk is then placed in a suitable machine tool and provided with a circular opening 16. The outside periphery of the insulating material and the copper disk are reduced to the circumference illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. The flanges 6 and 7 are also formed, the insulating material between the anges being cut away to expose the cop er disk and thereby provide a bearing siir ace for co-acting brushes. The commutator segments 9 are formed with a saw or suitable tool by cutting through the flanges 6 and 7 The saw-cuts produce the undercutting between the bars. desired, the interstices may be a suitable effect of dee However, i wholly. or partially filled with cement.

From the above description, it will be noted that I have rovidgd a simple and convenient method o assem ling the component parts of a commutator and that the use of mica or other expensive insulating materials .has been avoided. The structure is practically integral, thereby insuring that vibration or shock cannot loosen the several segments. The manner of machining the commutator insures that the faces of the bars will lie in the same plane and that they will be evenly aced.

It is un erstood that such modifications may be made in my invention as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A commutator comprising a diskshaped supporting member of insulating material having a plurality of annular flanges disposed thereon, and a pluralit of radially disposed conductin ents aving their end portions embe deririi the said flanges. Y

2. A commutator vcomprising a diskchanges and.

`cuttin said disk into radial of radially disposed conductin segments having their end portions ein ded in the said flanges.

4. A commutator comprising an annular disk-shaped supporting member of insulating material having concentric flanges disposed adjacent to the inner and outer peripheries thereof, and a plurality of radially disposed conducting segments having res duced end portions, said reduced portions being embedded in the said flanges.

5. A commutator comprising a body member of insulating material, and a plurality of metal segments havin reduced end portions, said reduced portions being wholly embedded in said body member.

6. A commutator cylinder comprising a disk-shaped body member of insulating material, a disk-shaped reinforcing member embedded in said material and a plurality of metal segments rigidly retained by said body member.

7 A commutator c linder comprising an annular disk-shaped body member of insulating material an annular metal plate embedded in said insulating material, and a. plurality of metal segments rigidly retained by said body member.

8. A commutator comprising a plurality of radially vdisposed conductin segments having reduced portions, and a disk-shaped supporting member of insulating material in which said reduced portions are completel embedded.

9. coix'imutator comprising a plurality of radially disposed conducting segments, and a supportin member of insulating material, said mem er having a flange integral therewith in which portions of said segments are completely embedded. y

10. @The method of constructing a commutator which consists in embedding a metal plate in insulating material and then subdividingl said late to form Segments.

11. T e met od of constructing a commutator which consists nrcovering a metal disk with 'insulating material, cuttin away a portion ofsaid insulating materia and then p segments.

12. he method of constructing a commutator which consists in embedding a metal disk inspaper and adhesive material, heating and pressing the same, cutting away. a portion of said structure, andv then subdividing said disk to form segments.

18. A eommutator comprising a diskshaped body member of insulating material, a metal plate embedded in said material and a plurallt plates em edded in said body member, Athe said metal plate and the said conducting plates being disposed in parallel planes.

of radially arranged conducting.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 24th day of December, 1913.

HAROLD M. SCHEIBE. 

